Kay Starr was successful in every field of music she tried, jazz, country and pop. But her roots were in jazz, Billie Holiday, considered by many the greatest jazz singer of all time, called Starr "the only white woman who could sing the blues."
She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz".
Kay Starr was born on a reservation in Dougherty, Oklahoma. Her father, Harry, was a full-blooded Iroquois Indian; her mother, Annie, was of mixed Irish and American Indian heritage. When her father got a job installing water sprinkler systems, the family moved to Dallas, Texas.
While her father worked for the Automatic Sprinkler Company, her mother raised chickens, and Kay used to sing to the chickens in the coop. As a result of the fact that her aunt, Nora, was impressed by her singing, she began to sing at the age of seven on a Dallas radio station, WRR, first in a talent competition where she finished third one week and won every week thereafter, then with her own weekly fifteen minute show. She sang pop and "hillbilly" songs with a piano accompaniment. By the age of ten, she was making $3 a night, a lot of money in the Depression days.
As a result of her father's changing jobs, her family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and she continued performing on the radio, singing "Western swing music," still mostly a mix of country and pop. It was while she was on the Memphis radio station WMPS that, as a result of misspellings in her fan mail, she and her parents decided to give her the name "Kay Starr". At the age of fifteen, she was chosen to sing with the Joe Venuti orchestra. Venuti had a contract to play in the Peabody Hotel in Memphis which called for his band to feature a girl singer, which he did not have; Venuti's road manager heard her on the radio, and suggested her to Venuti. Because she was still in junior high school, her parents insisted that Venuti take her home no later than midnight.
Although she had brief stints in 1939 with Bob Crosby and Glenn Miller (who hired her in July of that year when his regular singer, Marion Hutton, was sick), she spent most of her next few years with Venuti, until he dissolved his band in 1942. It was, however, with Miller that she cut her first record: "Baby Me"/"Love with a Capital You." It was not a great success, in part because the band played in a key more appropriate for Marion Hutton, which was less suited for Kay's vocal range.
My Buddy
Kay Starr Lyrics
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Some of its leaves bring a sigh
There it was written by a buddy
That we must part, you and I
Nights are long since you went away
I think about you all through the day
My buddy, my buddy
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand
Just long to know that you understand
My buddy, my buddy
Your buddy misses you
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand
Just long to know that you understand
My buddy, my buddy
Your buddy misses you
Your buddy misses you, yes I do
The lyrics to Kay Starr's song "My Buddy" evoke a sense of longing and nostalgia for an absent companion. It speaks about life being like a book that we read, and how some of its pages bring a sigh, especially when it is written by a friend that we must part with - hence the term "my buddy". The singer reflects on how different life is since their friend has been gone; nights drag on, and they think about them all day long. What follows is a sort of internal monologue with their buddy, where they reminisce on moments shared in the past, feeling grateful for their friend's reliability and loyalty. The singer misses their voice and the comfort of their touch and wishes to feel understood, all leading to the point that the chorus reinforces - that the buddy misses their friend dearly.
Line by Line Meaning
Life is a book that we study
Life is a continuous lesson we learn from
Some of its leaves bring a sigh
Some parts of life make us sad
There it was written by a buddy
My friend was a big part of my life
That we must part, you and I
Now, we have to go our separate ways
Nights are long since you went away
Ever since you left, nights have been unbearable
I think about you all through the day
You are always on my mind, every day
My buddy, my buddy
My friend, my friend
Nobody quite so true
No one else has ever been as sincere as you
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand
I am longing to contact you and feel your touch
Just long to know that you understand
I just want to make sure that you see where I'm coming from
My buddy, my buddy
My friend, my friend
Your buddy misses you
I miss you, my dear friend
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand
I am longing to contact you and feel your touch
Just long to know that you understand
I just want to make sure that you see where I'm coming from
My buddy, my buddy
My friend, my friend
Your buddy misses you
I miss you, my dear friend
Your buddy misses you, yes I do
I really, really miss you
Lyrics © DONALDSON PUBLISHING CO, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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